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Julie Chen and Les Moonves arrive at the InStyle and Warner Bros. 67th Annual Golden Globes after party held at the Oasis Courtyard at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 17, 2010 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

(L-R) Actor Scott Bakula, actress Chelsea Field, television host Julie Chen and President and Chief Executive Officer, CBS Corporation Leslie Moonves attend the 'CBS Television Studios 3rd Annual Summer Soiree' held at The London Hotel on May 18, 2015 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Mark Davis/Getty Images)

THINK IT UP - On Friday September 11, 2015, the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), a leading charitable organization of the entertainment industry, is hosting a star-studded "roadblock" telecast fundraising event in support of Think It Up, EIF's new national education initiative. ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC simultaneously are broadcasting the live Think It Up one-hour special. (Photo by Image Group LA/ABC via Getty Images)

(L-R) Sheryl Underwood, Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, Aisha Tyler and Julie Chen of CBS' 'The Talk' ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange on December 9, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Grant Lamos IV/Getty Images)

Chairman of the Board, President, and Chief Executive Officer of CBS Corporation Les Moonves and Julie Chen attend the 2017 CBS Upfront on May 17, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images)

Julie Chen attends the 'Who Do You Think You Are?' FYC Event at Wolf Theatre on June 5, 2018 in North Hollywood, California. (Photo by Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images)

(L-R) Julie Chen and Leslie 'Les' Moonves, president and chief executive officer of CBS Corporation, arrive for a morning session of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 11, 2018 in Sun Valley, Idaho. Every July, some of the world's most wealthy and powerful businesspeople from the media, finance, technology and political spheres converge at the Sun Valley Resort for the exclusive weeklong conference. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

(L-R) Julie Chen and Les Moonves, chief executive officer of CBS Corporation, arrive at the Washington National Cathedral for the funeral service for the late Senator John McCain, September 1, 2018 in Washington, DC. Former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush are set to deliver eulogies for McCain in front of the 2,500 invited guests. McCain will be buried on Sunday at the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

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With her sign-off from “Big Brother” Thursday night, Julie Chen made it clear she’s standing by her disgraced husband Leslie Moonves.

At the end of the show, Chen said, “From outside the Big Brother house . . . I’m Julie Chen Moonves. Goodnight.”

But with this apparent declaration of support for a man accused by multiple women of sexual harassment and assault, questions heated up Friday across TV and social media about Chen’s future at CBS, where she also co-hosts the daytime chat show “The Talk.”

“I think it’s going to be hard for her to go back to ‘The Talk,'” said Joy Behar, co-host of “The Talk’s” ABC’s rival “The View.”

Danny Deraney, the owner of Deraney Public Relations who represents a number of high-profile clients, including one of Moonves’ accusers, said he was “disgusted” by Chen’s pronouncement.

“Look, I get that you don’t turn off your love for somebody because of an incident,” he said in an email to this news organization. “If your spouse does something awful and goes to jail, you probably are still going to love your spouse despite disagreeing and denouncing what they have done. You don’t stop your heart overnight.”

But Deraney said he would have his clients stay away from “The Talk” if Chen remains. He said, “I don’t have an objection to her having a job of any sort. I just won’t associate my clients on any show she is a part of.”

Others on Twitter also were adamant that Chen couldn’t remain on “The Talk.” One person wrote, “She really is proud to be married to (an alleged) sexual abuser. Julie girl, you are officially cancelled.”

“I’m Julie Chen-Moonves.” She really is proud to be married to a sexual abuser.

Chen’s highly anticipated return to CBS came Thursday night, just days after her husband, the network’s chairman and chief executive, was forced to resign after the New Yorker reported on additional women coming forward to accuse Moonves of forced oral sex, exposing himself and retaliating against women who rejected his advances.

Chen’s sign-off was widely seen as some kind of endorsement of her husband, given that it appears she has only been known to refer to herself as “Julie Chen” on “Big Brother” since the show’s debut in 2000, The Washington Post reported.

Chen also has continued to refer to herself as “Julie Chen” in other professional contexts, even after marrying Moonves in 2004, The Post added. Moreover, she kicked off Thursday’s episode by saying “Good evening, I’m Julie Chen. Welcome to double eviction night!”

Chen hasn’t made an appearance on “The Talk” since Moonves’ ouster. On Monday, she announced that she was taking a few days off to be with her family. Chen’s dramatic “Big Brother” sign-off noticeably wasn’t mentioned on the episode of “The Talk” that aired Friday. That’s because CBS aired a segment that was taped prior to Chen’s Thursday night “Big Brother” episode, according to Deadline.

But Chen’s absence from “The Talk” on Monday meant her co-host Sharon Osbourne had the uncomfortable task of announcing Moonves’ departure that day, while also saying “These stories are so similar, the pattern is so similar. … He’s not been convicted of any crime, but obviously the man has a problem.”

Chen’s other co-host, Sara Gilbert, joined in voicing support for Chen personally. But Gilbert then said, “This is an important time in our culture, and just because this hits close to home, it doesn’t change the story. All women’s stories, and these women’s stories, matter. This is very serious, and the appropriate actions need to take place.”

Could “appropriate actions” include Chen being asked to step away from her job on “The Talk?” After all, she and other hosts often are called on to share tidbits about their personal lives while also addressing hot topics in the news. And one of the past year’s hot topics on “The Talk” and elsewhere has been the #MeToo movement.

“They can’t talk about the #MeToo movement without her coming clean about her husband,” Behar said, also saying it would be hard for Chen to join in discussions about shows like “Real Housewives” or topics that are relationship related.

Behar’s colleague Sunny Hostin referred to Osborne’s remark about Moonves having “a problem.” Hostin asked, “If someone says your husband has a problem, how do you then go back and sit next to that person who made this judgment call about your spouse?”

On Tuesday, Deadline agreed with Behar and Hostin’s comments that it would be hard for “The Talk” to tackle any new #MeToo developments or similar stories “without maximum awkwardness with Chen at the table.”

But Deadline also noted some might see it as unfair to expect Chen to lose work because of her husband’s alleged misconduct. “Moving her off the show smacks of punishing a wife for her husband’s alleged sexual affronts,” Deadline wrote.

Many on Twitter don’t see any fairness issues with asking Chen to step down from “The Talk.”

That’s because of the perception among some that she may have known about the allegations against Moonves while continuing to report on the #MeToo downfalls of Harvey Weinstein or Bill Cosby.

Julie Chen was overly critical of Camille Cosby, but she's standing by her man who is facing similar accusations. 😕 Make it make sense.

Deraney believes that Chen’s “I’m Julie Chen-Moonves” probably was “a stab” at her employers to say she was going “to stand by her man, right or wrong.”

He added that Chen has a lot of fans who love her, but others were disgusted, as he was: “They were ready to throw their support around her and then she signed off that way for the first time in her life. It turned many people off.”

“Big Brother” fans also said they didn’t see how she could stay on their beloved show. They saw her declaration of support for Moonves as insulting to his alleged victims.

Another “Big Brother” fan tweeted: “I feel like Julie threw everyone a big (expletive) you with her sign off of: ‘This is Julie Chen-Moonves’ (something she has never done before). She said so much by saying so little. I really think Julie is gone after this season of #BB20.”

This story has been updated to include comments from publicist Danny Deraney and information about CBS airing a pre-taped episode of “The Talk” on Friday.

Martha Ross is a features writer who covers everything and anything related to popular culture, society, health, women’s issues and families. A native of the East Bay and a graduate of Northwestern University and Mills College, she’s also a former hard-news and investigative reporter, covering crime and local politics.

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